English Premier
2012-04-01 - Newcastle United vs Liverpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 1 April 2012 - Kick Off 1:30pm
This game is live on TV
Newcastle United
Alan Pardew continues to lead his team to positive results and there is now going to be a few supporters that are dreaming about a potential place in the Champions League. Newcastle United need to keep winning games if they are to achieve those aims, while a place in Europe is still within their grasp from the League standings.
An impressive 1-3 win at West Brom last week means Newcastle remain in 6th place in the Premier League, but they have now joined Chelsea on 50 points and are only 5 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in the final Champions League places. The team are 8-5-2 at home this season, scoring 22 goals and conceding just 15.
The Magpies had picked up just 2 points from a potential 12 available and it seemed like they were losing a bit of form at just the wrong time, but they have bounced back with back to back wins in the League against Norwich City and West Brom. Newcastle had drawn two games in a row at home before that win over Norwich, while they are unbeaten in their last 7 here in all competitions.
Fabricio Coloccini has been ruled out of this game and will be a big miss for the home side, but there is better news that Ryan Taylor and Cheick Tiote will both be available for selection.
Liverpool
There are beginning to more than just a few murmurs of discontent in the stands these days at Anfield, while the Liverpool team were booed off after their home defeat to Wigan Athletic eight days ago. Kenny Dalglish may have led the club to a Carling Cup success and a place in the FA Cup Semi Finals, but the League form has been beyond poor.
Liverpool are 7th in the Premier League and they are 31 points behind the leaders Manchester United. However, they could find themselves even lower down in the table depending on the results on Saturday, while the Champions League is already a distant hope. They have actually won more away games this season than at Anfield, compiling a 6-1-8 record, scoring 17 goals and conceding 19.
Shocking back to back defeats to QPR, after leading 0-2, and Wigan means Liverpool have actually lost 5 of their last 6 League games and they have only recorded 1 win in their last 7 League games. Their record away from home does not inspire much more confidence as they have lost 5 of their last 6 on their travels and again recorded just 1 win in 7 games. The Reds have had some real defensive problems recently, conceding 12 goals in their last 6 away games.
Charlie Adam misses out on Sunday and could be ruled out for the rest of the season. However, the good news is that Glen Johnson, Martin Kelly and Dan Agger could all return to help out in defensive areas, while Maxi Rodriguez is available for selection.
Head to Head
Liverpool beat Newcastle United 3-1 at Anfield earlier this season to record their 7th straight home win against their opponents.
The games at St James' Park have seen each team win 3 of the last 6 games at this stadium, including a 3-1 win for the home team last season, a game where Andy Carroll scored for the Magpies.
Prediction
I am extremely surprised that Newcastle United are considered the underdog in this match considering the form that both sides have been displaying in recent weeks.
Liverpool are struggling to avoid defeat, let alone win games, so I don't get why the layers think they are the more likely winners of this game. I have a feeling this is a big name club that the layers know will get the support regardless of form with the game live on TV and I do not want to go near that price.
I was a little tempted in picking Newcastle United as they should not be a 3.10 shot to win this game- however, they haven't been as dominant in their home games over the last 3 games as they have for much of the season, while Liverpool have a pretty respectable record from recent games at St James' Park.
The one element of games between these two teams that sticks out like a sore thumb is the shear number of goals they combine for in their games. The last 8 games between the teams has seen at least 3 goals scored between them, while the last 7 games has seen at least one of the sides score 3 goals on their own.
That has made the Overs look more than a little reasonable and I will be backing that for this game.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Newcastle United 2-1 Liverpool
